Bam
THURSDAY NIGHT, THE last of the roadies had cleared out of the theater, which left me and Lucy blissfully alone. We were ready for our show tomorrow, but for now, it was just me and her and I couldn’t wait to get her back to my place. I was officially addicted to her body.
She sat, legs crossed on top of a rolling road case used to haul equipment, reading a book. I couldn’t make out the title, but she seemed engrossed in it, her finger having woven a lock of her hair around it as she concentrated on the pages. She wore skin tight black jeans and a Roses for Anna baseball T-shirt that was tied off at the waist. Her hair was slightly teased and she’d pulled off her high-heeled booties, setting them next to her. She was the perfect picture of good girl, turned rock music video vixen.
“Hey, beautiful, where’d you get that shirt?” I asked through my unstoppable ear to ear grin.
“I know a guy,” she retorted coolly, lowering her book.
“Does he know about me? ’Cause I’ll kick his ass if he starts to put the moves on my woman.”
I slid my hands up the side of her thighs, tugging her toward me, her crotch to my waist. Taking the book, I set it aside as Lucy grinned and crossed her legs around me. I pulled her as tight to me as I could and kissed her deeply and slowly.
“No need to get all ragey―”
“Ragey?” I asked, interrupting her.
She giggled. “Your rage issues are legendary,” she teased. “And, should someone ‘put the moves’ on me, I’ll handle it.”
“Fair enough. How ’bout we drop this subject and you give me another one of those kisses?”
“What’s in it for me, mister?” she challenged.
“Now there you go calling me mister again, you know how I feel about that.”
I kissed her again, drawing her closer to my chest. Her soft body pressing against me, making me rock hard. I felt like I might crush her with how tightly I was now holding her. I had to get closer to her. I needed to be inside of her… in every way. I needed us to share everything we possibly could with each other. Most of all, I needed her to know how I felt.
“I love you,” I rasped. The words tumbled out before I could control myself. Lucy stiffened and pushed, gently away from me. She looked deeply into my eyes, her gaze more intense than I had ever seen. I couldn’t breathe. I had never told a woman I loved her, and I was scared shitless.
“I… I…” she quietly stuttered
Before she could continue I pulled her close and kissed her again. I wanted her to feel how much I burned for her. “Shh, you don’t have to say anything.”
“It’s not that.”
“What is it, then?”
She sighed. “It’s stupid.”
“Why is it stupid?”
“Because I love you,” she whispered, her lips barely parted from mine. “I was worried it was so soon, but it’s how I feel, so fuck it. I love you. Screw waiting longer to say it.”
I could no longer stand it. Kissing would not be enough, words would not be enough. I put my hand under her thighs and lifted her up, and her ankles locked tightly around me. I continued to kiss her hungrily as I carried her to the stack of thick velvet theater curtains that were tucked behind a small storage alcove. I gently placed her down and pulled off my t shirt. She perched on her elbows, arching her back slightly, letting her long red hair fall back onto the crushed velvet. I had to loosen my belt and unzip my pants to relieve the pressure, but before I would undress any more I had to get Lucy out of her clothes first. As I stepped closer to her I could hear her breathing begin to quicken.
I leaned over her and began kissing her neck while untying the knot at the bottom of her shirt. Once untied, I quickly pulled the shirt over her head, but was careful to keep her in the same position. I had full access to her neck and that was exactly what I wanted. She smelled like vanilla and something else… something sweet. More importantly, every time I kissed her neck, she moaned in sweet, short breaths. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard. Her body trembled as I cupped her breast. “You cold?”
She shook her head. “Horny.”
“I better take care of that, then.”
“Hurry,” she rasped.
I chuckled and shifted so I could remove the rest of my clothes. Lucy sat up, now wearing only a black bra and jeans. Her current bed of crushed red velvet provided a stark contrast to her beautiful pale skin which seemed to glow in the soft backstage light. Her hair fell down over her lightly freckled shoulders and she stared at me with what I can only describe as “doe eyes.” She was adorable and unbelievably sexy.
“You are so beautiful, baby,” I said.
“Are we really alone?”
“Yeah,” I assured her. “Locked the doors myself.”
Lucy nodded, then reached behind her back and unhooked her bra clasp, allowing it slowly slip and fall over her perfect breasts. Fucking perfection.
Lucy licked her lips. “How do you look bigger every time we have sex?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”
“Don’t do that, honey. You know how much I hate gentle.”
I stretched out next Lucy and kissed her, placing one hand on her ass while the other cupped one of her full breasts. I felt her shudder as her breathing once again began to quicken.
“Breathe baby, just breathe,” I whispered, my thumb now working her nipple in slow circles as I continued to kiss her neck. She moaned and I felt her thigh muscles tighten. I moved my hand from her ass and turned my attention to her glorious tits. I greedily took her full C-cups into my hands and began sucking her already hard nipples. I continued to suck and caress while I slid her panties off.
“Someone might come in,” Lucy whispered.
“No one’s comin’ in, baby. I locked up,” I reminded her again. “Promise.”
“Yo! Bam?” Winston called. “You in here?”
“Shit,” I rasped, and Lucy sat up with a start. “Be right there, brother.”
“You locked the doors, huh?” she accused as she tugged on her shirt.
“I did, baby… but he’s good at lock picking.”
“Ohmigod, Bam, seriously?”
I gave her a mild grin and we yanked the rest of our clothes on as quickly as possible. I adjusted my raging hard-on and went to see what the hell Winston wanted… other than to cock block me.
* * *
Bam
The next morning, my phone buzzed and I scrambled to answer it before it woke Lucy. I looked at the clock, just after 6:00 a.m. The call was coming from Jaxon Quinn so I quietly got out of bed and answered the call in the next room. “Hey Jaxon, you got news?” I whispered.
“Actually I do, that’s why I’m calling or I wouldn’t have disturbed you so early.”
“Don’t worry about it, what’s up?” I asked.
“Do you remember when Grady Jones mentioned his lawyer?”
I rubbed my forehead. “Yeah, you asked for his card and he got all shitty with you.”
“That’s right. Well if you recall his lawyer’s name is Harlan Caster.”
“And that’s significant, why?”
“Harlan Caster is a sleazebag lawyer for the Dixie Mafia. He has also represented Dr. Greene on several malpractice suits, and handled all of Chas’ immigration papers. He’s a major player in the organization and handles a lot of matters for them.”
“Holy shit.”
“That’s not all, Bam. He was also your father’s lawyer.”
“What the fuck?” I breathed out.
“I think your mother was killed to send a message.”
“A message… to whom?”
“Your father.”
My heart raced. “What?”
“Your father owed the mafia a lot of money. He’d lost hundreds of thousands in gambling. In order to work off his debts, he did low level jobs for them whenever asked… until he started refusing. I think they killed your mother to send a message to him and to control him, exactly like they did Dr. Greene and Grady Jones. They paid off Jones and solved Dr. Greene’s legal problems, but they had no leverage on your father other than his family.”
“That sonofabitch.” I swallowed convulsively. “He was responsible for her death and he made me feel like it was somehow my fault.”
“If you hadn’t left town, they may have come for you next, Bam, who knows?”
“How do you know for certain it was a hit?”
“Dr. Greene’s autopsy report was inaccurate in two ways, the time of death and the number of bullet wounds.”
“You mentioned those in our interview with him.”
“He was instructed to change both of those details,” Jaxon explained. “The time of death in order to create an alibi for the actual killer, and the number of shots to conceal his M.O.”
“Does that mean you know exactly who the killer is?”
“Yes we do. He’s a contract killer often employed within the Dixie Mafia named Arlo Weston, and the bureau has him in custody. That’s why I’m calling.”
I could barely register the words he was speaking.
“We have your mother’s killer. More importantly, we have the people who gave the order. Thanks to Chas’ knowledge of the mafia’s accounting system and the connections via your mother’s case, we’ve been able to arrest seven high ranking mafia members and dozens of other connected thugs… Bam… Are you there?”
A sound like buzzing bees filled my head. “What? Um… yeah… I’m here.”
“Did you hear me? We’re going to put a lot of very bad people away thanks to you and your mother.”
“Yeah. Thank you… thank you for your call.” The phone hit the floor, followed by my knees.
* * *
Lucy
“Bam, honey?” I called as I slipped from the bed and made my way toward the kitchen. I’d barely registered him getting up, but then his voice penetrated my sleep.
I hit the mouth of the hallway just as I heard, “… thank you for your call.” Then the clash of something crashing to the floor.
“Bam!” I quickened my steps and watched as his knees hit the floor and his face dropped in his hands. “Ohmigod, baby, what happened?”
I rushed to him and pulled him into my arms.
“Lucy,” he rasped, and I cradled him to my chest.
“I’m here, honey. It’s okay.”
He filled me in on the phone call with Jaxon while I held him on the floor. By the time he was done with the story, I was sobbing and he was comforting me.
Everything this man had gone through made him strong. Probably stronger than he would have wanted to be, but it made him a giant in my eyes and I couldn’t have loved him more. I stroked his wet cheeks and smiled through my tears. “You’re an incredible man, Beau Nelson. I’m really sorry all those awful things happened, but I’m so glad I know you. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
He took me back to bed and made love to me with a sweetness and desperation we hadn’t experienced before. The rest of the day was my chance to show him people do stick around and that I was in it for the long haul. We planned our future together, which included him moving to Seattle and starting a new life with me. It wouldn’t happen right away, but it would happen sooner than later, and I couldn’t have been more excited.
Tonight though, tonight I got to see my man in his element. Nothing could have made me happier.
* * *
Bam
“Circle of fear!” I yelled, and Winston immediately began clearing the room.
“C’mon y’all, time for the band to get ready! Please exit in a timely and orderly fashion,” he hollered cheerfully as he ushered the backstage partygoers out the door. “That’s it, ladies and gentlemen, right this way… the show is about to start!”
The circle of fear had been a band tradition from back in our early club days. No matter where we were playing, no matter how pissed we were at each other, no matter what, the rule was we’d always do the circle of fear. The four of us would gather in a circle, in some quiet place and sing in harmony. The idea was to face each other, quiet ourselves, look one another in the eye and try to get our voices to blend as well as we could before getting on stage. We figured if we could always do this, we could always make great music together. The day we could no longer do the circle of fear was the day we could no longer be a band. This was something we somehow understood as very young men. There is no greatness without intimacy and there is no intimacy without fear.
“Circle of fear gentlemen,” I said again as we made our way to the center of the now empty room. “Would you be so kind as to lead us in song, brother Zeke.”
“I’d like to sing a song for Anna Nelson,” he said smiling.
I nodded and he led us in her favorite Tom Petty song Wildflowers.
One at a time, each band member added their voice and we sang to my mother, who I could finally, truly lay to rest. I also sang to a father I could finally begin to let go of.
As we ended our song, we remained facing one another silently until Jimmy smiled and asked, “Anyone feel like pissing off the neighbors?”
“Showtime!” Zeke shouted and we made our way out of the room where Lucy had been waiting in the hallway.
“Hey! There’s my woman.” I pulled her close and kissed her. I couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of kissing her. If I didn’t have a show to play right then, I couldn’t imagine anything else being able to tear me away from her.
“I could hear you singing through the door,” she said smiling.
“You’re about to hear a lot more. You gonna be on the side of the stage this time?”
“Maybe, we’ll see,” she teased.
“We’ll see?” I challenged back.
“Oh, I’ll be watching, I’m just not gonna tell you from where. I want to keep you guessing.”
“I have a feeling you’re going to constantly keep me guessing.”
“Well, here’s one thing you won’t have to guess about.”
“What’s that?”
“How much I love you,” she said before pulling me in for another kiss.
“Oh and here’s another thing. What I want you to do to me tonight.” She pulled me closer and whispered specifics in my ear.
“Miss Haddon.” I stood up straight. “That’s downright filthy. Does your father know you speak like that?”
“I have a pretty good idea.” I turned around quickly to see Rex Haddon standing in front me, Roxie by his side.
“Holy shit!” I blurted out.
“Nice to see you too, Bam.” He smiled wide and gave me a hug. “We just wanted to come by and say have a great show.” He moved his attention to Lucy and the others as they began walking to the stage area. I stood there still somewhat stunned.
“You coming, silly?” Lucy asked, holding out her hand.
“You go on, I’ll see you out there,” I said smiling.
She disappeared through the darkness of the curtains and I could see my band mates at the side of the stage waiting for the house announcer’s cue. Usually I’d be pacing, or obsessively adjusting my in-ear monitors, counting down every tick before I could get to my drum throne, but right now I just wanted to stay in this quiet darkness for a moment longer.
I thought about the broken road that had brought me here and about the broken man I had been when Lucy found me. She saved me from myself, helped heal me with her love, and most importantly, showed me the way home.